Midnight Carnival

watercolour & ink

21.5 x 28.75 inches

1992

signed

unframed

Catalogue No: TNYIL-61

When Tibor Nyilasi was working as a high school art teacher, he spent one Christmas holiday break in the Bahamas. At every opportunity he left the tourist areas to explore authentic island life.

He was overwhelmed by “Junkanoo”, a traditional carnival parade which begins at midnight and ends promptly at dawn on New Year’s Day. The colorful dancing, rhythmic music and exotic costumes, lit up against the darkness of the surrounding night, impressed him very deeply.

This painting of "Junkanoo" was developed architecturally, and the basic composition seems to mimic the application of large, informally cut tiles. This gave Nyilasi multiple areas of varying tonalities, some of which were patterned by placing scraps of embossed paper toweling - as well as scattered salt crystals - on the wet paper surface. After the paper dried, he drew onto it with a sharp metal-quilled pen.

Cross-hatching and stipple effects created further textures, and faces emerged, showing various expressions. These faces are like flashback recollections of individuals encountered fleetingly in a teeming crowd of strangers at a nocturnal street parade.

The light is hemmed in by a pressing reality: the surrounding blackness of the Caribbean night. The central image suggests a costume and dancing feet, but the focus of the painting is not on the celebration, but rather an exploration of the darkness. Nevertheless, the overall mood is not onerous or threatening.

This is a painting that can be appreciated over many viewings. The observer will be rewarded by gradually perceiving the many details which demonstrate Nyilasi’s technical and artistic skill, and always delight in discovering previously unnoticed “hidden images”.